Category: Personal Project

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Josh Scott

Waterway is an ongoing project I started in 2009 just after buying a house on the Detroit River.

This series of images is focused on foggy mornings when things are quiet, calm, and surreal.

It’s a magical time to be on the river as threads of mist permeate from the water into the cool air leaving it a horizonless abyss, disorienting, removing any visual reference to direction.

It’s a time to explore, watch, and wonder as the breeze rolls blankets of fog into various tunnels of sight and the sun’s rays of light fight relentlessly to burn through the thick moist air.

Sometimes without warning the fog will just vanish leaving this mysterious place behind, and you’re left waiting for the next time the fog will play with your mind.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Dirk Anschutz

I am the father of a young boy and the only child of a single mom.  I’ve never met my dad.

I’ve been traveling around the US to take portraits of fathers and sons from many different cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. The different ways you can grow up in this country are astounding but many challenges for fathers and sons and the love between them are still the same.

The most basic role of a father is to protect his child while also allowing the kid to learn and grow by failing and getting hurt (but not too much).  It’s a constant balancing of preaching caution and abandon. On top of that there’s the expected guidance in inter-personal, scholastic, tech-related, sexual (dear Lord, no!), and financial behavior.  Plus installing a basic value system for dealing with a constantly changing world.  What could possibly go wrong?

Obviously, the father-son-relationship is incredibly influential for both.  Many times, a son will follow in his dad’s footsteps, and most dads have to make big life changes to accommodate their children.  Children might have to return the favor when their parents grow old.

I’ve tried to capture all of these things in my images.  But the glue that holds everything together is the love between a parent and a child.  It’s primal and fundamental.  If it’s not there for whatever reason, it’s probably hard to have a good lifelong relationship and it’s probably hard for the child to develop all the tools needed for a good life.  If the love is there, there’s a good chance it will carry father and son through all their difficulties and shortcomings.  Probably everybody who had a child can recall the feeling when your baby’s lying on your chest.  It’s glorious and terrifying all at the same time and it really changes your life forever.

Andrew & Homer, Brooklyn, NY, 2016

Fung Kit (Michael) & Wing-Hong (Andrew), Mountain View, CA, 2023

Jason & Chester, Jupiter, FL, 2018

Jonathan & Benjamin, Randolph, NJ, 2021

Wyatt & Mike, West Point, NY, 2019

Paul & Sonny, San Francisco, CA, 2023

Paula & Jonathan, Brooklyn, NY, 2018

Raul & Mario & Salomon & Ramon, Abiquiu, NM, 2021

Voodah & Rahmel, Brooklyn, NY, 2019

To see more of this project, click here

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Brian Pineda

In my images of Muay Thai kickboxers, I traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, capturing these athletes at various training camps and stadiums where they compete. This project captures the dedication, rich tradition, and vibrant pageantry of Muay Thai kickboxers, revealing a world where physical prowess and spiritual depth converge.

My fascination with Muay Thai stems from witnessing the unwavering commitment of these athletes. With my images I aim to show the rigorous training, the moments of silent contemplation, and the dynamic energy of these athletes. The fighters’ expressions, the intricate details of their ceremonial attire, and the intense action sequences all tell a story of honor, respect, and the pursuit of excellence.

This project is a visual homage to the athletes who dedicate their lives to mastering Muay Thai, preserving its legacy for future generations. It is an invitation for viewers to witness the beauty and discipline of this ancient tradition, celebrated in the heart of Bangkok.

The ceremonial rituals, the intricate details of their attire, and the dynamic movements in the ring are all captured to convey the beauty and discipline inherent in Muay Thai. This project is about the spirit and passion that these athletes have for their craft.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Dana Damewood

I grew up in the town of Wahoo, NE, population 2,000. I lived on the family farm and went to a one room school in the middle of a corn field. When we moved into town, I spent most of my time at my grandmother’s house. When she decided to move at the age of 97, I wanted to preserve the feeling and memory of the space that always felt like home to me. I remember the way the light came in through her windows and loved that nothing changed there as long as I can remember. I used my vintage Rolleiflex camera to photograph her home and some of the places around town that once seemed mundane but now have great meaning for me.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Kate Medley

This body of documentary photographs examines the role of gas stations throughout the South, using these spaces as a lens to study this complex region, the people who live here, and how the populations and priorities of these people are shifting. In a time when our politics are increasingly polarized, our neighborhoods segregated, and our rhetoric strained, still nearly everyone regularly passes through these same commercial spaces. We come together here almost out of necessity, or at least convenience. My images give particular due to the culture and people in these communities—the workers who sustain these gas stations and the customers who rely on them for fuel, food, essential goods, and community. This project puts expressed emphasis on emerging immigrant foodways launching from gas station kitchens—the cuisines of one’s native country and how that is merging with more traditional flavors of the American South, shifting the very definition of what is Southern food. I highlight the egalitarian nature of the gas station, integral to the lives of people in every socioeconomic bracket in the South, especially in rural areas. Spanning more than ten years, this project touches down in 11 southern states, documents more than one hundred gas stations, and features a diverse mix of portraits, scene-setters, details, and documentary images.

To see more of this project, click here

Available for purchase, click here

Instagram

I feature personal projects so your work can be seen.  It is so nice to see this project get so much press (I found her in a CNN article and reached out to her). This is the press she has gotten already for this personal project https://www.katemedley.com/news  

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Geert De Taeye

In this photo series, I embark on a journey through inspiring locations that have the power to ignite the imagination. Guided by the virtual lens of Google Street View, I find myself wandering through the digital corridors of the world, embarking on endless virtual walks. Like a spy plane soaring above, I observe the landscape from different angles, seeking out wooded areas, specific architectural styles, and mysterious structures that exude a captivating atmosphere. These locations serve as the foundation upon which I build my narrative.

However, the initial allure of these virtual discoveries often gives way to reality when I visit them in person. Changes in the environment or alterations to the building itself can leave me disappointed. Just as Google Street View captures a moment in time, my photographs also freeze a specific instance. Yet, in their evolution, they reveal the loss or emergence of certain character traits unique to each location.

Every place undoubtedly harbors a story, a history waiting to unfold. These stories become the seeds for my photo series. Approaching with an air of naivety, I engage with the owners of farms, houses, and other inhabited places. My initial intention is to seek permission to capture their residence in an image. With a genuine curiosity, I ask them to share a personal story that resonates deeply with their home. An event or memory that has left an indelible mark and is intimately intertwined with their dwelling. It’s as if I am selecting a still from a movie, immortalizing a moment frozen in time.

The residents’ personal stories form the foundation of my images. Drawing inspiration from their narratives, I create and stage new situations that expand upon the truth, allowing room for interpretation and exaggeration. The resulting photographs, The Nearest Truth, are grounded in true stories yet venture beyond simple documentation. Nothing is quite as it seems, as I aim to create a world where reality and imagination blur together, beckoning viewers to question their own perceptions.

Through this approach, I hope to uncover the hidden narratives embedded within these captivating locations. The fusion of personal stories, carefully constructed staging, and the inherent magic of photography allows me to delve into the depths of human experience and create visual moments that resonate on multiple levels.

In The Nearest Truth, reality dances with the imaginary, prompting viewers to delve deeper into their own interpretations and immerse themselves in a world where tales are told through the lens of a camera.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Gabriele Galimberti

Half of all the firearms in the world that are owned by private citizens for non-military purposes are in the United States of America. The overall number, indeed, exceeds the Country’s population: 400 million weapons for 328 million people. This is not a coincidence, nor is it a market-related issue: it is rather a matter of “tradition” and constitutional guarantee established with the Second Amendment, ratified in 1791. This law reassures the inhabitants of the newly independent territories that their Federal Government would not be able, one day, to abuse its authority over them, and they are guaranteed the right to bear arms.

Two hundred and fifty years later, the Second Amendment is still ingrained in all aspects of American life.

Gabriele Galimberti has travelled to every corner of the United States – from New York City to Honolulu – to meet proud gun owners and photograph them and their weapons.
He has photographed people and guns in their homes and neighborhoods, even in places where no one would expect to find such arsenals.

These often-disturbing portraits, together with the accompanying stories based on interviews, provide an unexpected and uncommon view of what the institution of the Second Amendment really represents today.

To see more of this project, click here.

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Amy Selwyn

With mostly monochromatic hues and an aesthetic that hints at time’s passage, Amy Selwyn’s images invite the viewer into a realm where light and shadow dance in a slow and expressive duet. Each photograph, though distinct in its subject — a cathedral’s vault, a fog-wrapped forest, a solitary bathtub, and a church standing sentinel in a hazy expanse — shares a common thread of contemplation and consideration.

The cathedral’s arching lines reach toward the mysterious of the heavens. The forest scene, veiled in mist, speaks to the enigma of nature’s beauty, her paths less traveled, and the quiet introspection such a world elicits. The soft solitude of the bathtub, framed by morning light, mirrors the intimacy of moments when we confront (welcome?) the naked self.

Collectively, these works are a meditative exploration on solitude, reverence, and the search for meaning amidst the ephemeral. They stand, Selwyn believes, as odes to the quietness in life, the spaces between breaths, the silent stillness that defines our existence. Within these silent vignettes, the artist extends an invitation to pause, to reflect, and to find solace.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Billy Childress

Back in the heart of Mount Airy, nestled in the warmth of Flat Rock Baptist Church, my roots run deep. Generations of my family found solace within the church walls. It had been a while since I last stepped into the space that cradled both my upbringing and the final farewell to my beloved grandmother. During the pandemic, this town is where I found myself inhabiting Grandma’s old house which is only separated from the church by a graveyard. In the midst of this small town’s struggles, I heard all the churches were closing and it really struck a chord with me because in the south, churches don’t close during hard times. This is where people want to be in a time of need, worry and uncertainty. For his congregation, Pastor Rusty Reed came up with the innovative solution of a Drive-In Church service. While in the parking lot listening on an AM radio station, parishioner’s cars would transform into havens where all could tune in to the pastor’s comforting words. As I embarked on documenting this extraordinary chapter in my town’s history, I chose to capture it in black and white photography knowing the monochromatic palette would deepen the importance of the narrative. To me, black and white supports and keeps the story quality timeless and deep by stripping away the distractions of color. My goal was to emphasizes some of the simple, raw emotions of the community bound by faith during their moments looking for unity.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  The Rathkopfs

“Maminka,” the Czech term for mother, and my native language as a Czech immigrant now based in New York, serves as the emotional core of this project. Offering an intimate glimpse into my family’s lives, it chronicles the poignant journey of how my mother, and I reversed roles. In 2016, she became my caregiver during my cancer diagnosis, a role that later reversed in 2022 when she faced a stroke and cancer.

This photographic exploration delves into the shifts in our relationship– from patient to caregiver and caregiver to patient. The images captured the intricate dance of roles between children and parents and shows a candid picture of the challenges we confronted. How hard it is to care for a loved one, and how hard it can be to accept care. Amidst these tribulations, the project unveils the enduring strength of family love, a constant presence that can help transcend the hurdles.

“Maminka” also sheds light on the broader impact of multigenerational caregiving. In addition to my and my husband Jordan’s roles as caregivers in the “Sandwich Generation” (caregiving for aging parents and young children), our son, Jesse, has also found himself helping care for his grandmother as well. Spanning from Jesse’s early childhood to the most recent images in December 2023, the project captures the evolving dynamics. His instinct to assist in caregiving for my mother as she grappled with the lingering effects of recent illnesses, adds another layer to the intricate narrative. Ultimately, this project is a testament to the resilience of familial bonds, specifically the profound transformations that accompany the ebb and flow of caregiving roles across generations.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Todd Antony

The Japanese subculture of ‘Dekotora’ – a portmanteau of the Japanese pronunciations of “decor” and “truck” – involves the elaborate decorating of a truck following a certain theme, or aesthetic. For more than 40 years, Japanese truck drivers have been piling lights, patterned fabrics, and other over-the-top adornments onto their work trucks, creating moving masterpieces covered in LEDs.

The tradition of decorated trucks, or “Dekotora,” originated from a 1970s Japanese movie series that was inspired by Smokey and the Bandit, titled “Torakku Yaro” or “Truck Rascals.” Drivers first began decorating their vehicles in the style seen in the comedy-action films in hopes of being cast in upcoming productions. Eventually the extravagant trucks became a way of life for many workers, with decoration costs sometimes running over $100,000.

The Dekotora craze has passed its zenith of the 80s and 90s and has been in decline recently, numbering in the region of 500 drivers in the country now. The Utamaro-Kai association participates in a number of charity initiatives and has been helping raise funds for some of the areas worst hit by the recent Tsunamis, by staging events in the cities.

Junichi Tajima, the head of the Utamaro says it is not just about raising money though, but about bringing some light and happiness into the lives of those who have been affected. When asked what Dekotora means to him he said that ‘after 40 years, Dekotora is my children, my brothers, my family’.”

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Jennifer MacNeill

My love of animals combined with a curiosity about people who are very passionate about raising and showing them fueled my desire to photograph various animal shows. This brought me to The Celtic Classic dog show in York, PA.

It was interesting to study how meticulously each animal was groomed and watch the intense focus of the canine and the handler in the ring. Personally, I would never buy a pedigreed pet because there are far too many homeless animals in need, but I can respect a person’s interest in preserving breeds and sharing their love of dogs with the public.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Scott Elmquist

What started as a newsroom assignment in the early 2000’s, became a personal project spanning 25 years. During those years I attended countless community prayer vigils in Richmond, Virginia, generated by unrelenting gun violence. Simply reporting the facts about each murder weren’t enough. I felt compelled to investigate the murder victims, and communicate with the affected families, sharing their stories visually.

Some prayer vigils were often solemn, intimate events, attended by 25-50 people. The larger vigils resembled New Orleans-style wakes, where people preached, sang, marched and prayed. Regardless of the vigil size, family members spoke lovingly about the victims, and although I was possibly witnessing the most painful moments in their lives, they often thanked me for being there to tell the story.

Unfortunately, this grim story continues to unfold. According to the Virginia Department of Health, from 2018-2022, over 1,000 Virginians died each year due to gun-related violence. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. The resulting devastation for families is immeasurable. In June 2019, during Gun Violence Awareness month, I partnered with Initiatives of Change, a Richmond based non-profit, to host “I Am Here,” a three-day interactive exhibit to raise awareness and promote healing from the trauma brought on by gun violence. I displayed photographs from those prayer vigils held in the aftermath of homicide. Hundreds of people attended the event, including families of the homicide victims. Families shared stories, grieved together and joined in a healing drum circle, allowing them to remember and celebrate their murdered loved ones. Shelia Hall Green stood and spoke about her son Omar, who she had buried just four days earlier. Another mother, Brenda Rawlings, said it was the first time she felt normal since her daughter’s murder on New Years’ Eve 2018. Deneene Poole said she felt her son, J.J., who was murdered in 2010, hadn’t been forgotten. Providing visual documentation of the vigils offered some hope that these murder victims, and their families, won’t be forgotten.

Ricky Burton, 16, was murdered walking home from his late shift at Wendy’s in August 2008. His aunt (pictured here) and about 100 mourners gathered in Delmont Village to say goodbye.

Hundreds of members of the Hillside Court community gathered on the 1700 block of South Lawn Avenue for a vigil in remembrance of 3-year-old Sharmar Hill Jr., who lost his life on February 1, 2020, when he was caught in the crossfire of gun violence outside his home. “This shouldn’t be a war zone — how is your home a war zone?” Shamar Hill Sr. asked, reiterating that his young son was his “hero.”

BIO: Scott Elmquist is the senior photographer for Style Weekly/VPM News based in Richmond, Virginia. His gun violence images have won numerous awards, including being named the Best Alternative Weekly Photographer in North America in 2019 by the Association of Alternative Weeklies, for a portfolio of gun violence images. He was awarded the Best General News Photo First Place award in Virginia by the Virginia News Photographers Association in 2006 and 2008. He also earned dozens of First Place awards and ten Best-In-Show awards in the annual Virginia Press Association contest 2000-2022.

To see more of this project, click here

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APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Billy Childress

This photographic series originated with my exploration of my grandmother’s siblings, a project that unfolded within the confines of the family homestead. Nestled on 8 acres in rural North Carolina, this ancestral compound was comprised of four houses where each sibling resided at the time.

My grandmother, a pivotal figure in my life, epitomized strength in a way that continues to resonate with me today. Spending countless formative years by her side, I absorbed a wealth of life lessons from her. Above all, her unwavering faith stood as the cornerstone of her existence. Together with my grandfather, they built their home behind the family church where she was raised—a place that now echoes with the memories of raising children of my own.

The path of her life took an unexpected turn when my grandfather sustained a gunshot wound to the head in his forties, leaving him blind and brain-dead. From that fateful day onward, my grandmother devoted herself to his care until his last breath. The love they shared and the grace she exhibited were immeasurable, a demonstration of the resilience that faith and family can inspire.

Following the loss of my grandfather, my grandmother drew strength not only from her unwavering faith but also from the familial bonds that surrounded her. She had a unique camaraderie with her siblings. Each one of them navigated their individual struggles with illnesses—ranging from cancer to dementia and the challenges of old age. With the loss of their significant others, they found solace and support in one another. Witnessing this interdependence among siblings underscored the profound importance of family, especially when faced with loss and sorrow.

Throughout this period, I was lured by the power of portraiture. A person’s face can reveal so much—capturing not just their present state but also glimpses of their past. This project compelled me to document them in the very homes they built and, on the land, where their shared history unfolded. The resulting portraits tell stories of resilience, familial bonds, and the enduring beauty of capturing moments in time.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Ellen Jantzen

The place of one’s birth greatly influences who they are but through moving, new landscapes await to reshape their very being.

Here I am blending photos from my years in the Midwest (Missouri and Illinois) with current photos I’ve taken while living in New Mexico. During these times of COVID- 19, travel is restricted so this gives me the opportunity of revisiting past photo shoots and creating new combinations, new work.

The landscape looks as if it were moving as though one was quickly driving past, but the clouds seem heavy and still. There is so much of life racing past us these days while our heads are in the clouds. Are we moving or remaining still as abstract land meets the real sky? We are reshaped by our circumstances. We become, in essence, a blending of all former homelands with the present.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Stuart Miller

Blood Generation is a collaborative exhibition between contemporary photographer Stuart Miler, and Artist Taloi Havini. Taloi invited Stuart to come and photograph a series of portraits dedicated to a tribe of young people known as the “Blood Generation”.

This is the name that was given to those children who were born into war, triggered from external interests in mining and sustained by acts of local political self-determination.” In 1990, the people of Bougainville lived under air, sea, and military blockade for ten-years with a reported loss of twenty thousand lives. Bougainville’s Indigenous landowners remain disheartened, displaced, and dissatisfied. The issue remains unresolved, and we ask ourselves – who is responsible for the “Blood Generation”

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Suzanne Saroff

‘‘Perspective’ is a two-part series. The original photos I titled “Perspective.” Then I titled the photos that came after “Perspective Revisited.”

These pieces were a deeply personal experience for me to create. Creating my artwork is a transformative, meditative experience. That was especially so in creating my Perspective series. I was in my early twenties when I started this series. I had been working on other still-life photography series involving these props – the glassware, the fruits, and the flowers – but that earlier series was about the shadows they made. While photographing that earlier series, I saw that the orange I had been photographing had taken a completely new shape behind the water glass. This phenomenon in art – distortion through lenses of all types, even when the lens is not attached to the camera – has always interested me. From Irving Penn’s work on the concept, to my carrying around a crystal ball when I was a kid, photographing my hand holding the crystal while the world flipped upside down behind it.

At that moment, seeing the distorted orange at an unexpected angle brought me back to my childhood, where photography was a discovery of the hidden obvious. Right then, I became obsessed, which turned into a journey of exploration that has led me deeper into what I can try to capture and communicate with my photography.

Something so simple – water, a background, and an object- being transformed with the right light and “Perspective.”

The second part of this series was revisiting what I had started. In this second part of the Perspective series, I dove deeper into the folds and dimensions of communicating with color and texture. I hope that these captured images share some of the ripeness of emotion and feeling that I had then, and how what I was able to see helped to unravel tangled knots that are so common in all of us.

Through the years, I continue to revisit this work, each time with a new perspective. As I have grown up in this career in New York, I find comfort in the feeling of the challenge of discovering something new in the obvious. I chase that feeling, obsessively working through new ideas. As I balance my commercial projects with my own personal work, I have continued to revisit this “Perspective” concept, as each visit brings me joy and comfort, and the most exciting visits do bring me something new.

To see more of this project, click here

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Artist Bio

Suzanne Saroff is a photographer and video artist based in NYC. Her body of work is still-life focused, with a multimedia approach. She has always been an observer – noticing small details. As a child, this meant falling behind on hikes to look at unnoticed bugs and flowers, and as an adult, she continues to notice the often unseen. She uses still-life photography as a way to communicate feelings and ideas. Her work is feminine, bold, and nuanced. She loves to explore objects, textures, and colors and how they can add layers of energy and meaning.

Central to her approach is experimentation and new ways to work with light and composition. In her studio, she likes to build technical sets and then break all of the creative “rules”. This process is cathartic and is where new ideas emerge. She likes to examine, take apart, or combine flowers and objects, searching for new ways of looking at them to create and communicate feelings and emotions.

In addition to her ever growing body of personal work, Suzanne has shot for many clients, including Glossier, Gucci, NARS, Prada, and her photography has been published in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, and many other publications.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Joanna Kakissis , Claire Harbage

The Cossacks’ traditions live on near the front lines in Ukraine

(featured in NPR The Picture Show)

KHORTYTSIA, Ukraine — This lush, wild island, the largest on the Dnipro River, is just outside the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, not far from the front line where Ukrainian soldiers are trying to reclaim occupied land.

It includes a nature reserve, where horses run free, and was once a headquarters for the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks, 17th century warriors revered in Ukraine for their insistence on freedom and self-governance.

“They are my ancestors,” says Yuriy Kopishynskyi, a tall grandfather with a shaved head, twirled mustache and linebacker’s build. “They are also part of the Ukrainian story today.”

You can find likenesses of Zaporizhzhian Cossacks everywhere in Ukraine — on T-shirts and coffee mugs, in paintings in government offices, on statues big and small. Their hairstyle — shaved, except for a ponytail on top of their heads — is also popular with Ukrainian men and even a few women.

“Legend says that when a Cossack dies,” Kopishynskyi says, “God reaches out for that ponytail to pull the Cossack to heaven.”

Kopishinskyi sits in a thatched hut surrounded by five protective ducks, near an animal refuge and a horse-riding school run by his daughter. He explains that the world often associates Cossacks with Russia, because some became loyal servants to the czars. But the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks fought invading Muscovite princes.

“They were de facto border guards, protecting their sacred land,” he says.

For the last 20 years, Kopishynskyi has trained locals and foreigners to fight like Zaporizhzhian Cossacks — with swords, maces and their bare hands. One of his best students is Andrii Lozovyi, a cheery hulk with a drooping mustache and long oseledets, which he calls “the haircut of champions.”

“Every adult, every child wants a hairstyle like that so we can look like our heroes,” he says.

Before the war, Lozovyi and Kopishinskyi practiced their combat techniques inside a fenced-in complex lined with weathered wooden houses. This is the reconstruction of a Cossack sich, or a military administrative center. It includes homes, a church and a museum.

Lozovyi disappears into the museum and returns with weapons, including a heavy sword and two axes. He takes off his shirt and expertly swings the sword around.

“I can also do this while riding a horse,” he says. “Whether we use horses and swords or howitzers and HIMARS, it all goes back to the same Cossack spirit to defend our land.”

Lozovyi says he’s been rejected from military service because of multiple bone fractures he suffered falling off horses. Kopishinskyi’s other student warriors are all on the front line, and they’re fighting other Cossacks who live in Russia and support Moscow. Kopishynskyi bristles.

“The Russian Cossacks were nothing but servants, and all they ever did was submit to the czar. The Zaporizhzhian Cossacks never submitted to anybody.”

Except this one time, he says, and there were terrible mistakes. Between 1648 and 1657, the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks rebelled against the Polish Commonwealth but also massacred local Jews and Roman Catholics. Then, in 1654, the Cossacks signed the Pereyaslav Agreement with the Russian czars for military protection. The Russian empire grew and punished those who didn’t submit. The Zaporizhzhian Cossacks held out until Catherine the Great, one of the Russian empire’s most formidable leaders, disbanded them in 1775.

“The way I see it, the Pereyaslav Agreement helped create the Russian Empire,” Kopishynskyi said, “and the Russia we know today.”

Now, he says, Ukraine and Poland are close allies, and Ukraine has a Jewish president, whom Kopishynshki calls a brave Cossack. They are defending their land from Russia.

“My own daughter is so strong,” he says. “She could fight five Russians.”

Anastatasiya Kopishynska, a champion equestrian, is tall and athletic like her father. Back at her riding school, she helps two twin toddler girls onto one of her horses.

“They’re not scared,” the girls’ grandmother says. “They must be Cossacks.”

Kopishynska’s own young children have been in Ireland since the war, living with her mother. Her husband is fighting on the front line.

“I told my husband, ‘Look, be careful out there, because if something happens to you, I will have to head to the front line myself to avenge you,'” she says.

“That’s what a Cossack does,” she says. And in today’s Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks are fighting again.

The story as featured in NPR The Picture

Photographs by Claire Harbage

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram